Mr Scruffy here. How have you been? It has been a couple of months since I last visited Pam’s Blog. She’s been fighting a horrible cold, cough, and laryngitis for three weeks now. Ugh! This past weekend, she was finally able to get back into writing her latest novel, The Owl, The Sword, & The Efil Stone — Book One of The Chronicles of Eldershire. She’s making progress; she’s at about 40,000 words. Send her happy writing vibes so she can get more words written and catch up on reaching her goal of finishing the book before the end of the month! And, now…

On with the news

1. Find ways to help you write — Are you a writer? How do you find ways to help you stay on task when you have a writing goal? Let me recommend – Pursue your writing by writing in a journal. You know all “creatives” need a jolt to get them back on track, stay on track, or just walk the track. Here are a couple of writing support groups, people, and other links you may find useful:

• Visit Sara Frandina – at her website: https://sarafrandina.com or on her FB page. Either way, check out her #justwrite offering! Amazing! It will help you to do as the name says — just write!
• Find things that are good for you to learn and learn about them. What do you enjoy learning? Share in the comments section. I’ve fallen in love with TED Talks. Recently, I watched a very interesting one by Lisa Genova on things you can do now to help reduce the effects of developing Alzheimer’s. It is worth your time to have a listen!
• Find foods you enjoy eating, and if new, give them a try. Pam loves to cook. She explores making different kinds of bread, making unique meals, and finding quick meals when her writing life is under deadline. Cooking from scratch takes gobs of time. Finding a good meal that is quick and healthy is the name of the game. Recently, she tried Eating Well frozen micro dinners. Generally, Pam is not a fan of eating frozen meals, but will use them when time is tight. Eating Well may have made her a convert. Her favorite one is the Chicken Pesto. As she said to me, “I couldn’t make this as good if I had cooked it myself from scratch, froze it, and then reheated it! Delish!”

2. Watching Bosch! It doesn’t matter if you like murder-mystery-crime-cop stories, you will love this series. I promise. Harry Bosch is the fictional character created by Michael Connelly and brought to life by Titus Welliver in the Amazon Prime series. Seasons 1 and 2 were exceptional, but I must say, Season 3 was outstanding! Pam said that she sure would love to develop a character as Mr. Connelly has done–keeping over 21 novels alive. She said she would definitely love to have an actor, such as Mr. Welliver play the fictional character she created. Powerful!

3. Make a wish. It is a fact that any author dreaming of hitting the big time has dreams and wishes. Pam’s wish is that an author, famous or not, finds her work and decides it is good enough to contact her, and strike up a conversation. How cool would that be? Who would she like to connect with? Oh, Michael Connelly, J. K. Rowling, David Hewson, and Ursula Le Guin to name just a few.

4. News from Hobbit’s Bend: Pam spent the last three weeks fighting a horrible cold/cough/laryngitis. Here’s her latest report—

“Since I began work on the first book of my speculative trilogy The Chronicles of Eldershire, I’ve re-read several fantasy novels I loved as a child. Books by Tolkien, Lewis, and L. Frank Baum. I’ve also read or am reading Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet, Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series, and Ransom Riggs latest series Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children. Reading these books helps me see the creative juices of some great authors. My first book The Owl, The Sword, & The Efil Stone is set in the land of Eldershire. A parallel universe ruled by trees and plants. A wicked witch, Nukpana Fraener, is the antagonist. And, Kay “KC” Carson is the leading lady. I’m in the midst of the action of the novel now. I’m finding it exciting and scary at the same time. I can’t wait for my reading friends – beta readers – have a chance to give me their reaction!”

Pam went on to say she plans to have the first draft completed by the end of May. She will then be sending it out to her beta readers after it has been edited and revised. Stay tuned! Book One is getting closer!

Thanks for reading…see ya soon!

Mr. Scruffy

This post Mr. Scruffy News - May 03, 2017 first appeared on Pam's Blog.

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